Dehumidifier finally died

[SteveA]

So I guess that unless you have an observatory and use a dehumidifier most people will have little interest in this. On the other hand if you do and you have a desiccant type dehumidifier to keep the inside of your observatory free of the dreaded condensation that seems to build up from around this time of year you may have some interest in this...

I purchased my DD1222FW desiccant dehumidified from http://www.dry-it-out.com/dehumidifiers/observatories about 10 years ago. It has given me a perfectly condensation free observatory for all that time and over the ten years I have had it, it has run almost constantly during the winter months. I think you would agree that's pretty good going for what was a relatively cheap bit of kit.

With the temperature falling I decided to switch it back on for the 2018 winter season, as usual it started up absolutely fine and did its job for a couple of days. I popped into the observatory last night and as soon as I opened the door I was hit with that all to worrying smell of electrical burning. With the lights off I wasn't quite sure what expect, for a moment I suspected I had left the power on to the astro kit and the whole lot had got fried. Clearly that wasn't the case, but straight away it became apparent that the dehumidifier was dead and no lights were showing. I'm not quite sure what happened to it, there is certainly no outward signs of any kind of inferno, but I'm fairly sure it's terminal and a replacement is required. Of course, this particular model is unfortunately no longer available though DIO seem to have a couple of likely looking contenders.

Anyway bottom line is...they clearly don't last forever!

Steve

 

 

[Wiu-Wiu]

Sounds it gave you great value for the money, saving your equipment from humidity 10 years.

 

I'm quicly going to ask a question here.. 

After the winter, I'm building an extension to my house and plan to make some kind of astro-closet. No observatory, but a closed off shed where I can quickly and safely store my equipment out of the house, out of the way, but in reach for a quick grab and go session on the patio.

A dehumidifier looks like a must-have in there. 

Do they run on net current? And when do you switch it on? 

Thx!

[SteveA]

1 minute ago, Wiu-Wiu said:

Sounds it gave you great value for the money, saving your equipment from humidity 10 years.

 

I'm quicly going to ask a question here.. 

After the winter, I'm building an extension to my house and plan to make some kind of astro-closet. No observatory, but a closed off shed where I can quickly and safely store my equipment out of the house, out of the way, but in reach for a quick grab and go session on the patio.

A dehumidifier looks like a must-have in there. 

Do they run on net current? And when do you switch it on? 

Thx!

Mine is running on mains power being in an observatory. I installed IP66 rated sockets in the observatory and the whole lot is on its own RCD. So far I haven't electrocuted myself?

The whole business with condensation revolves around humidity, temperature and ventilation. Some observatories or out buildings suffer to varying degrees and although ventilation its self can for some people provide an adequate solution, I personally despite plenty of ventilation have always been plagued with it. I normally turn my dehumidifier on around the end of October and it runs until about April. I have a remote weather station and a sensor installed in the observatory, I keep an eye on the temperature and humidity and over the years I have learnt to judge when it's possible to turn it off, so if the weather warms up or the atmospheric pressure is high I know that condensation will not be an issuance I turn the dehumidifier off.

Steve

[Hallingskies]

I leave my humidifier on all year round, but I use one of these as I found the crude controller on my unit to be a bit hit and miss...

https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/enclosure-hygrostats/9010595/

On damp days the unit comes on for about 4 minutes, two or three times an hour, and keeps my obbo humidity at a constant 60-65%.  The obbo is a dome type and so isn’t particularly draft-proof either. Not sure how reliable these humidistats are in the long term, but mine’s been running for 18 months with no issues.

I have an IP-rated RCD/fuse board in my obbo but have otherwise just used standard domestic power outlets - no problems yet, but I think I will swop them out for weatherproof versions just in case.

[steppenwolf]

I run my DD822 (from Dry-It-Out) 24/7 in my Pulsar Observatory and have it set to 50% on the built in sensor. By coincidence, mine stopped working today with an 'alarm' message. After some head-scratching, the fault was apparently caused by me failing to clean the tiny mesh filter at the back - a quick clean in water followed by a dry-out in the airing cupboard seems to have resolved the issue but time will tell! I won't forget this vital maintenance item again. It might be worth checking this in a controlled environment?

I have no idea how much it costs to run it and I don't think I want to find out BUT my observatory gear remains in perfect condition at all times with no rust or oxidation anywhere and that is good enough for me.

[SteveA]

On 20/10/2018 at 18:48, steppenwolf said:

I run my DD822 (from Dry-It-Out) 24/7 in my Pulsar Observatory and have it set to 50% on the built in sensor. By coincidence, mine stopped working today with an 'alarm' message. After some head-scratching, the fault was apparently caused by me failing to clean the tiny mesh filter at the back - a quick clean in water followed by a dry-out in the airing cupboard seems to have resolved the issue but time will tell! I won't forget this vital maintenance item again. It might be worth checking this in a controlled environment?

I have no idea how much it costs to run it and I don't think I want to find out BUT my observatory gear remains in perfect condition at all times with no rust or oxidation anywhere and that is good enough for me.

Clean...filter? I do vaguely remember reading something about that when I first used the unit. Sad to say that I have never even thought about doing it since, and quite possibly this may have had something to do with my failure. Having just looked at the filter...it actually looks cleanish, which is kind of surprising after 10 years of use!

Curious about the spec of your DD822 I,see it now seems to be unavailable?

I have however found a direct replacement  for my expired unit and I will be ordering one tomorrow

http://www.dehumidifiersuk.com/eco-air-dd122fw-mk5-portable-cellar-dryer-dehumidifier-with-2-year-warranty.html

Steve

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[steppenwolf]

29 minutes ago, SteveA said:

Curious about the spec of your DD822 I,see it now seems to be unavailable?

I have however found a direct replacement  for my expired unit and I will be ordering one tomorrow

Steve, the one you have ordered ticks all the boxes including the all important " Auto restart after power cut - ideal for being left unattended in boats, caravans, garages, holiday homes etc. "

This should be fine for your purposes. I can confirm that 24 hours on, having cleaned the micro-filter, my unit is working perfectly again!

[sloz1664]

I purchased an EcoAir DD122-Mini desiccant dehumidifier, together with a separate Humidistat and this has worked faultlessly for over two years. I've set the Humidistat to  come on at >60% and switch off at <58%.

Steve

[SteveA]

12 hours ago, steppenwolf said:

Steve, the one you have ordered ticks all the boxes including the all important " Auto restart after power cut - ideal for being left unattended in boats, caravans, garages, holiday homes etc. "

This should be fine for your purposes. I can confirm that 24 hours on, having cleaned the micro-filter, my unit is working perfectly again!

I'm looking forward to the auto restart functionality! My old one didn't have that and we suffer a fair number of power outages where I live. I mostly discovered we had had a power cut on finding a dripping wet observatory...very annoying.

Glad to hear your unit it is back to doing its job.

Steve 

[SteveA]

12 hours ago, sloz1664 said:

I purchased an EcoAir DD122-Mini desiccant dehumidifier, together with a separate Humidistat and this has worked faultlessly for over two years. I've set the Humidistat to  come on at >60% and switch off at <58%.

Steve

Keeping the filter clean seems to be an important thing to do. I'll certainly be taking better care of my new one....?

Steve